CU head coach Mike MacIntyre watches his players during the morning practice on March 14, 2014. (Cliff Grassmick, Daily Camera)

It sounds strange, perhaps, but Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre said he told the team’s fifth-year seniors that he gives thanks for having played or redshirted under three different head coaches as they did.

Ready to play their final game as a Buff, Colorado’s fifth-year seniors include offensive lineman Kaiwi Crabb, tailback Tony Jones, offensive guard Daniel Munyer, tight end Kyle Slavin and safety Terrel Smith.

Another fifth-year senior, safety Jered Bell, intends to petition to the NCAA for a rare sixth season of eligibility, having lost two seasons to knee injuries that involved ACL tears.

The fifth-year players will be joined by 15 other seniors who will trot onto Folsom Field for a final time Saturday in the 11 a.m. game against Utah.

MacIntyre said he has a soft spot in his heart for all the seniors. But he had a special message to the fifth-year players who were recruited by Dan Hawkins and either redshirted or played under Hawkins in 2010 before playing for Jon Embree (2011-12) and then MacIntyre.

MacIntyre told the six that he also played or redshirted under three coaches. A defensive back, MacIntyre began at Vanderbilt (1985-85) under his father, George MacIntyre. When George MacIntyre was fired, Mike transferred to Georgia Tech, where he sat out the transfer year (1986) under Bill Curry and played for Bobby Ross (1987-88).

“I can honestly tell them that I went through the same exact thing,” MacIntyre said. “I told them that from the first day I walked in here. I had four different position coaches.

“I know exactly how they feel. We didn’t win one ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) game my last year. But coach Ross kept telling us how we set (a foundation), how we kept working at it and kept pushing. Two years later, Georgia Tech won (a share of) the national championship (with Colorado).

“So I’ve been through it, and have seen it. I see us building and doing that. These young men truly leave a foundation,” MacIntyre added. “When I look back, of course I would have loved to have won more games. But when I got into coaching, (learning under three head coaches) truly helped me.”

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University of Colorado’s Jered Bell runs back an interception for a touchdown during a game against Central Arkansas on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2013, at Folsom Field in Boulder. (Daily Camera file)

Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre said he has “never seen anything like it” when speaking about the Buffs’ safety spots.

Since the beginning of August camp, five CU safeties have been injured.

Here’s the list:

* Jered Bell — Senior lost for season with torn ACL on Aug. 15.
* Marques Mosley — Junior lost for season with ACL, MCL tears Oct. 25 vs. UCLA.
* Chidobe Awuzie — Sophomore likely done for season after lacerating a kidney during practice Nov. 4.
* Tedric Thompson — Sophomore has missed two games after suffering a concussion Oct. 25 against UCLA and is listed as questionable for Saturday’s game at Oregon.
* Evan White — True freshman suffered a concussion Nov. 8 at Arizona and is listed as questionable for this weekend’s game at Oregon.

Colorado’s starters at safety against the third-ranked Ducks are expected to be senior Terrel Smith and senior Richard Yates II, a former walk-on.

Walk-on Ryan Moeller, a freshman from Rifle, could be the top reserve.

“Guys that two weeks ago were on the scout team are now going to play,” MacIntyre said. “The good thing is that with the open date, the new guys got more time to prepare.”

Defensive coordinator Kent Baer shook his head when asked about the situation at safety.

BOULDER– Random thoughts after watching a 1-11 football team scrimmage against itself Friday:

* Maybe we expected too much from Shane Dillon. Maybe the redshirt freshman will surprise us in Colorado’s fall camp. But the highly touted quarterback is clearly running third behind Nick Hirschman and Connor Wood, the embattled juniors who couldn’t unseat Jordan Webb last year.

More telling was his first couple of series. He fumbled the first snap and got sacked on the second. In his next series, he had a gain of zero sandwiched in between two incomplete passes.

“It’s more than clear that Nick Hirschman and Connor Wood are leading the pack right now,” receiver Paul Richardson said. “They switch off working with our first group. I’d say they’re leading right now. Who ends up with the job? I have no idea.”

When a Buffs safety draws the responsibility of covering UCLA’s senior tight end Joseph Fauria, the size differential might resemble a team manager trying to check a power forward. Fauria, newphew of former CU standout Christian Fauria, is 6-foot-7 and 255 pounds.

BOULDER — Considering that Colorado ranked last in pass-efficiency defense among Pac-12 teams in 2011, it came as no surprise that signing defensive backs was a priority during recruiting.

In February, the Buffs landed five high school DBs. Four of the five may help immediately, with John Walker of Washington D.C., having to wait until 2013 because a finger injury early in August camp required surgery and he likely will redshirt this season.

From speaking with coaches (practices are closed to the public, including the media), it appears the two most highly regarded of the signees, Yuri Wright and Kenneth Crawley, are living up to their billing.

BOULDER — Colorado coach Dan Hawkins confirmed Saturday morning after practice that tests revealed, as suspected, that sophomore safety Vince Ewing has suffered a season-ending tear of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee during Thursday’s scrimmage.

Ewing, from Carlsbad, Calif., recorded nine tackles during the scrimmage before the injury, the second-highest total on the team behind true-freshman safety Terrel Smith’s 10. Ewing had come out of spring drills ranked second on the depth chart at strong safety behind starter Anthony Perkins. CU has not released an updated depth chart since August camp began.

There was some good news Saturday. Senior linebacker B.J. Beatty (leg) and sophomore defensive end Forrest West (knee) returned to full-speed drills. The morning session marked West’s first full practice of camp. The projected starter underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in late July.

While I’ve never even seen an Internet clip of his high school highlights, I get the feeling that adding safety Terrel Smith (5-feet-10, 185 pounds) to Colorado’s football recruiting class more than two weeks after signing day will turn out to be a feel-good story.

Smith, from Passaic (N.J.) County Tech, has a bio that leads me to believe he is a ballplayer – having recorded 100 tackles and three interceptions on defense as a senior, along with rushing for 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns on offense.

For defense, he earned third-team all-New Jersey honors. Those that believe those are rather modest credentials should know that New Jersey has become an absolute hotbed for football talent.

Did you know that the Garden State produced seven first-round selections in the 2009 NFL Draft? Yes, seven. One of the players from New Jersey high schools that went in the opening round was none other than Denver Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno (No. 12 pick, from the University of Georgia).

Smith believes he did not receive any offers on national signing day from major-college schools because his high school typically is not recruited heavily. Often, when a defensive back is overlooked it’s because he lacks top-level speed, although Smith did run track. (New Jersey also is underrated in producing track athletes. Anybody remember Carl Lewis?).

We’ll see what happens with Smith. My guess is he becomes a contributor, maybe even an impact player. I just get that feeling.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.